Hope for Tomorrow

by Elizabeth Maddrey

  He shrugged and focused on the hole he was digging. That was probably one of the many things that ended up being an issue between the individual and Jesus. Only Jesus knew people’s heart.

  “How’s it going?” Cyan strolled over and peered into the hole that was about a foot and a half deep.

  “About half way there, I guess. What’s up?” Morgan paused and leaned on the handles of the tool. Cyan didn’t usually wander around on Saturdays without Maria and Calvin in tow. He looked like a man with something on his mind.

  “Maria and Skye are heading into Santa Fe. Maria got it in her head that she wanted a new dress for Easter tomorrow.” Cyan shrugged. “Dress shopping didn’t really appeal. They dragged Calvin along because he needs new shoes. Seems like he outgrows sneakers every time I turn around.”

  Morgan laughed. “Kids’ll do that.”

  “I wanted to thank you for including Skye and Royal in your gaming nights the last couple of weeks.”

  Morgan’s eyebrows lifted even as heat crawled up his neck. “There’s no need for that. We’ve enjoyed having them. They’re good.”

  Cyan grinned. “Skye said the same about the three of you. Royal’s talking about sticking around longer, even after the kit results come back. That’d be nice. I like having them around more than I thought I would. I guess I hadn’t realized I missed my family.”

  “I know Wayne and Betsy love having everyone here, too.”

  Cyan studied Morgan for a moment. “And you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Do you mind?”

  Morgan shifted and resumed digging his hole. “No.”

  Cyan frowned. “That’s it? Just ‘no’?”

  “What are you after, Cyan?”

  Cyan dragged a hand through his hair. “My sister—Skye—she’s dealing with a lot right now. I’m not sure a casual fling with a cowboy is in her best interest.”

  Morgan snorted and dumped dirt from the hole into the wheelbarrow. “Couple of things wrong with that sentence.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, to start, I’m not a cowboy. You see any cows on this ranch?”

  “Would you prefer ranch hand?”

  “How about stable manager.”

  “Fine. Whatever. If we replace cowboy with your preferred title, the concern holds.”

  Morgan took a deep breath. Cyan was Skye’s older brother. It was natural for him to be protective. “It speaks well of you that you’re concerned. I’d say, though, that the rest of it is between Skye and me.”

  “Look. Maybe you don’t understand what’s going on. She’s sick. The doctors sent her here because they thought getting rid of stress would help her get better.”

  “She told me.”

  Cyan frowned. “She did?”

  Morgan nodded and eyed the hole. It was probably deep enough. He leaned the post hole digger against the wheelbarrow and dragged the cross closer. “You want to give me a hand?”

  “I—yeah, I guess.” Cyan moved around to where Morgan pointed and grasped the cross.

  “On three.” Morgan counted it off and they lifted the top of the cross while the foot slid into the hole. “Can you hold it up while I check that it’s level and fill in around the base?”

  “What were you going to do if I hadn’t showed up?” Cyan positioned himself against the wooden beam.

  “I would’ve figured something out. I’m good at thinking on my feet.” Morgan laid the level against the wood and tilted it a bit to get the bubble where it needed to be. “Try not to let it move, okay?”

  “Yeah. Look. I talked Skye into going to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. We’ll stop and visit our parents on the way.”

  Morgan nodded. It wasn’t a terrible idea. He and Skye hadn’t spent time discussing her health after the initial conversation. She seemed to be managing okay most of the time, though. As interested as he was in Skye, there was part of him that held back. Getting too involved in other people’s lives inevitably led to drama and heartache. His years as a cop had solidified that truism in his soul. It was why he was here, working with horses and doing general ranch chores instead of continuing to serve and protect. “When will you leave?”

  “She doesn’t have an appointment date yet. But you can see why getting involved isn’t a good idea, right?”

  Morgan tamped down a shovelful of dirt before looking up at Cyan. “Does she know you’re warning me off?”

  Cyan’s face reddened and he looked away.

  “Didn’t think so. Do you imagine she’ll appreciate your involvement?”

  “She doesn’t have to know about it. Just back off, man, at least until she knows what’s going on.”

  “Say I do back off. Skye’s going to ask why. What do I tell her?”

  “Everyone on the ranch knows you came here to avoid getting involved in people’s lives. Just tell her that.”

  It was probably true. Morgan hadn’t kept his hurt and disillusionment a secret. But it had been changing, slowly, even before Skye showed up. “I won’t lie to her. Not for you. Not for anyone.”

  “Fine.” Cyan blew out a breath. “I don’t understand why you’re being stubborn about this. She’s only been here three weeks.”

  The best three weeks he’d had since he came to the ranch. Since before that, even, if he paused to think about it. Morgan and Skye had spent a lot of time together over those three weeks. They’d walked, ridden, and talked. Become friends?

  “She matters to me.”

  Cyan arched a brow.

  At least he didn’t say something about it being fast. Cyan didn’t have any legs to stand on when it came to speedy relationship progression. “I think, given what I know of your sister, that you’re better off leaving her to figure out where she wants our relationship to go. I’m not running simply because she has some medical issues.”

  Cyan gave him a long look before nodding once. Grudgingly. “All right. You understand I had to try?”

  “I understand you think you did.” When Cyan snorted and walked off, Morgan smirked. He took a step back and studied the cross. Maybe this year, in addition to celebrating the new beginning Christ’s resurrection provided believers, he was ready for a new start of his own.

  Morgan stood at the back of the gathering and watched as students and adults carried flowers up to the cross and attached them with the provided thumbtacks. It reminded him of the scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Aslan had come back to life and was bounding from spot to spot with Lucy and Susan on his back. Everywhere he landed, daises sprouted in joyful celebration.

  These weren’t all daises, but they were awfully cheerful.

  Across the crowd, Skye stood between her brothers. Maria and Calvin stood on the other side of Cyan. They looked like a unit. A family. For the first time in a long while, Morgan’s heart ached. Skye glanced up, caught his eye, and smiled. She said something and broke away from her brothers and started making her way toward Morgan.

  His heart sped up. She was wearing a lavender skirt that swished around her knees and one of those tops that seemed to wrap around a woman’s body and tie at the side. There were little holes on it—not lace, but like that. He searched his memory for the term but came up blank. Fashion had never been his strong suit.

  Morgan glanced down. That was obvious from his standard Sunday choice of chinos and a button down. At least today, it being Easter, he’d opted for one of the two non-denim options he owned.

  “Why are you over here by yourself?” Skye slipped her arm through his.

  The warmth of her body against his seeped into him. “Just watching.”

  “You could’ve come over with us.” She tilted her head toward her family.

  Morgan felt the disapproval in Cyan’s gaze and he shook his head. “Your brother isn’t sure about this.”

  “About what?”

  “You and me.” He glanced down and held her gaze. “He suggested I should back off.”

  “He did what?” Skye
shot her brother a furious look across the crowd. “I hope you told him to mind his own business.”

  “Essentially.” Morgan squeezed her arm. “Don’t be mad at him, he thinks he’s looking out for you.”

  “Yeah, well, I can look out for myself.”

  Morgan chuckled. “No question. He also mentioned Mayo?”

  She blew out a breath. “He was Mr. Buttinsky, wasn’t he? Yeah, I should hear tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I wasn’t going to say anything until I knew I got an appointment. I’m not sure what else to do.”

  “I think it’s smart.”

  “You do?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? They’re great doctors. I have to believe they’ll help figure out what’s going on.”

  “Okay. I’m not used to people feeling that way. The church I went to before—where I first came to know Jesus—was positive I just needed to pray more.”

  Morgan snorted. “I mean, prayer is never a bad idea, but God gave people brains for a reason, too. We have doctors and medicine. I believe He wants us to use them when it makes sense. That’d be like saying we don’t need cops because God wants us to get along.”

  Skye grinned and looked back at the fully-flowered cross. “I’ve never seen this before, have you?”

  “Not before I came to the ranch. I like it, though. Wayne says he’s seen other churches do it.” Morgan shrugged, a little relieved at the turn of conversation. “Did you have fun in Santa Fe shopping?”

  “I did, actually. And,” Skye bit her lip and glanced around before leaning closer, “Maria bought a wedding dress. It’s not a fancy huge one or anything, but she specifically called it her wedding dress. I think maybe they’re going to elope.”

  “Huh.” Morgan watched as Cyan ruffled Calvin’s hair before taking Maria’s hand. There was that ache again. “Your parents won’t mind?”

  Skye laughed. “My parents think marriage is an outdated concept. If they’re going to mind about something, it’ll be that they’re making it legal at all, not how they go about it. Of course, maybe my sister Azure’s engagement at Christmas has broken some of their resistance down. Not that they were stoked about Azure at all right now, since she’s the most vocal about Jesus of us.”

  “It’s tough.”

  “Your family aren’t believers?”

  “They are. Or they say they are—and sometimes I think that’s maybe worse. They go through the motions, but I’m not sure it goes to their heart.” Morgan shrugged. He tried not to spend too much time thinking about it. The few times he’d tried to talk to them—to encourage them to go beyond church on Sundays and the occasional check in the offering—he’d been accused of everything from being judgmental to being told to take the plank out of his eye before he meddled in the spiritual lives of someone else. So he’d dropped it. “I guess it’s not my business.”

  “Isn’t it?” Skye frowned. “There’s that whole spur one another on to love and good deeds thing. I don’t remember exactly where it is, but it’s in the New Testament. It’s basically saying it’s our business to make sure other believers are living the way Jesus wants us to.”

  “Maybe. But that doesn’t make for smooth family relations. And since they’re already ticked at me since I quit being a cop . . . I’m trying to keep the peace.”

  “Why did you quit being a cop?”

  Morgan rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not really an Easter Sunday story.”

  “Okay. You don’t even have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s fine.”

  He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “No. I want to. It’s not some big tragic tale or anything. You know how rock erodes under constant drips of water?”

  She nodded.

  “That’s the job. Death by a thousand paper cuts.” Morgan tried to push away the stream of memories that flooded his brain—a combination of boredom followed by raging adrenaline, exhaustion, and everything in between. “It got to the point that I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to be anymore. So many hurting people who needed help, and yet I knew I couldn’t help them all. I couldn’t even help a small fraction of them. It was a weight that got heavier every time the system failed to protect the innocent. At the end of the day, I wasn’t strong enough to keep at it. I needed peace—craved it like the drug addicts I tried to help craved their next hit. And that sort of bone-deep ache makes getting up and facing another day that guarantees at least one failure—maybe a big one—impossible. Or the next best thing to it anyway.”

  Skye leaned up and pressed her lips briefly to his. “You’re wrong, you know.”

  “About what?”

  “That is a tragic tale, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  He didn’t want her sympathy. He didn’t want to be some tragic hero who shuffled off the battlefield, either. Before Skye showed up at Hope Ranch, if you’d asked him what he did want, Morgan would have said he just wanted to be left alone.

  Now?

  He wasn’t sure he knew how to answer the question.

  11

  Skye closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the top of the sofa in her grandparents’ living room. The scents leftover from breakfast still clung to the air, leaving her slightly queasy. The room spun, regardless of whether or not her eyes were open. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears like a heavy metal drum solo.

  Mayo needed to hurry up and call her back.

  “You okay, honey?” The couch dipped.

  Skye pried open an eye and shifted so she could see her grandmother. “Just waiting to get my bearings.”

  “Can I bring you coffee?”

  “No, but thanks.” Skye took in a deep breath and held it while she counted to five. She counted to eight as she let it out. Her heart slowed. She repeated the process two more times and opened both eyes. “How are the plans going?”

  Betsy beamed. “I think we’re set. The cross from Sunday is still gorgeous. I was worried the cooler air the past three nights would have turned some of the blooms brown, but I didn’t see any major damage. It’s going to be a stunning backdrop.”

  “Did Cyan get a hold of our parents?”

  Betsy’s glow dimmed. “He did. Your mom is going to video call in—Royal’s handling that.”

  “No one better.” Skye pushed herself up and shifted so her knees bumped Betsy’s. “Don’t be upset. Dad’s . . . Dad. Getting him to a wedding in the best of circumstances isn’t easy. It was a long shot that he’d want to be here, even virtually.”

  “I know that. I do. I just keep praying that God is going to break through the stone around his heart. He was raised better!” Betsy flung her hands in the air. “And that’s all old ground I’ve covered too many times. I’m sorry. I get so frustrated.”

  “I get that. You’ll recall I haven’t even told them I’m a believer. And only told them I was here when I had to. Mom tries to keep the peace—I feel bad for her, to be honest. But she’ll call in and that’ll have to be enough.”

  “I haven’t actually met your mother. So that’ll be nice.”

  “Seriously?” How was that possible? “Not once? I always assumed, before we were born . . .”

  Betsy shook her head. “When your dad left, he never looked back. Your mom took the time to send updates sporadically, but those were always a postcard here or there. Not even an email. I guess so we wouldn’t write back and try to have a relationship? I don’t know.”

  “Then it’s a doubly-special day. Cyan and Maria are getting married and you’ll get a chance to meet your daughter-in-law.”

  “Ish.” Betsy laughed. “Although at this point, maybe they meet some common law requirements.”

  They actually probably didn’t. Skye’s mom had once commented that they moved between states enough that it kept those laws from coming into play. Still, what else was Betsy supposed to call Mom? Daughter-in-law worked in spirit, if not fact. “Now that they own a house and have stopped moving around, it should for sure.”

  “Maybe. It
doesn’t matter, really. As much as I’d love for your parents to be married, I want them to be right with Jesus more.”

  One thing might lead to the other, in that case. Skye nodded and slowly stood. The dizziness and heart racing wasn’t too bad. Manageable, at least. “I’m going to walk over and see if Maria needs any help. Is she really cooking lunch for everyone for after the wedding?”

  Betsy laughed. “That’s Maria. She made lasagna this morning and I have instructions to put it in the oven before we leave for the fire pit. There are loaves of bread already rubbed with butter and garlic waiting to go in the oven when we get back. And a salad in the fridge waiting to be tossed with dressing.”

  Skye was pretty sure she could put catering her own wedding on the “never in a million years” list. “Is there cake, too?”

  “Wayne ran into town to get cupcakes.”

  “That’s something, then.”

  “Maria is very capable, but she does know her limits.”

  Skye nodded and looked at her grandmother for a moment.

  “What is it, dear?”

  “Thank you.”

  Betsy’s expression turned quizzical. “For what?”

  “Letting me come here unannounced. Accepting me with no questions asked or recriminations given.” Skye shrugged. “I wasn’t sure what sort of reception I could look forward to, even with Azure and Cyan going on and on about how wonderful you were. But you’re as good as advertised. Maybe better. So, thank you.”

  “We love you. I love you. And I’m grateful to have a chance to spend time with you and get to know you. All of you. Royal being here too is amazing. Now we just need Indigo to visit and we’ll have it all.”

  Skye chuckled. The chances of Indigo leaving her animals for any length of time were slim. There’d been a few comments on their sibling group text about her and Wingfeather coming out to Virginia for Azure’s wedding, but that wasn’t until Labor Day. A lot could happen between now and then. “Is she conferencing in, too?”